No sooner had Arsene Wenger compared the six-goal humiliation at Chelsea to a car crash than he climbed back behind the wheel, turned the key, checked his mirrors and drove into the gatepost – twice.

It is as if Arsenal have malfunctioned after catching their own version of the Millennium bug: demolished in Wenger’s 1,000th game at Chelsea and held at home by Swansea in game 1,001.

Wilfried Bony headed the visitors ahead after only 11 minutes and they led for more than an hour before two goals in a minute by Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud turned the game upside down.

Only 15 seconds of the 90 were left when Swansea equalised with a freakish own goal by Mathieu Flamini, who booted the ball into his own net as he stumbled into a rebound from a save by Wojciech Szczesny.

It was the first time Arsenal have conceded more than one at home in the Barclays Premier League since the opening day of the season and it might have been worse had referee Lee Probert not blown the final whistle when Jonathan de Guzman was clean through in the fifth minute of added time.

Swansea boss Garry Monk was angry and bemused by Probert’s decision, even if he was satisfied with an unexpected point in their survival fight, while Arsenal will rue a terrible four days when their title hopes vanished and a place in the top four came under threat.

Manchester City are at the Emirates on Saturday before Wenger takes his team to Everton, who are moving closer in fifth, and the Arsenal manager must have been livid with his team’s careless start on Tuesday night.

If Wenger truly is having second thoughts about signing the contract which has sat on the table for months, this was the sort of listless display which will reinforce his doubts.

He pleaded for focus and concentration in response to the 6-0 humiliation at Chelsea, but his team looked impotent as Swansea unzipped them with ease.

Neil Taylor swung a long cross into the penalty area from the left with decent pace and shape and Bony was too powerful for Thomas Vermaelen, springing across in front of the Arsenal captain to score his 20th goal of the season. Szczesny barely moved as the ball hit the net and nor did Wenger, stony-faced on the bench beside assistant Steve Bould, who was clapping and yelling furiously.

Slowly Arsenal summoned some sort of response. Per Mertesacker glanced a header into the side-netting from a corner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had a crisp volley saved in the fourth minute, crashed an effort wide before Michel Vorm saved from Santi Cazorla as half-time approached.

Wenger waited until close to the hour mark before making his first change, sending on Podolski, whose arrival gave Arsenal added potency.

The German may offer little off the ball but he retains an instinct in front of goal and was in the right place to turn in a volley after being set up by Kieran Gibbs.

Swansea restarted and lost the ball almost immediately. It found its way out to Podolski, who charged down the left and produced a low cross for Giroud to sweep in his 19th goal of the season.

For most of the game, Giroud was hopelessly out of kilter, a shadow of the striker who started the campaign in such irresistible form, but his goal seemed to set up three points as the shadows of the 1,000th game were lifted. Spirits lifted.

There was a debut for Kim Kallstrom, the Swedish midfielder signed on loan in January despite a stress fracture of his back which has ruled him out for the two months since.

Kallstrom perhaps epitomises where the season went wrong for Wenger, during another inert transfer window, and yet he was greeted warmly as he sprayed a couple of decent passes around.

No-one expected the ending which unfolded when Leon Britton collected the ball and dribbled into the Arsenal penalty area.

He progressed with relative ease and was almost on to Szczesny when Mertesacker intervened, sliding in to push the ball into the legs of the goalkeeper as he dived at Britton’s feet.

The unfortunate Flamini was one of the few Arsenal players diligent enough to be tracking back and stumbled into the ricochet, kicking the ball into his own net.

Another car crash of a goal and it could have been worse had Probert not stopped De Guzman in his tracks.

—Daily Mail